A Distributor’s Point Of View
In addition to being the parent company of Mike’s Hard Lemonade Co., Mark Anthony Group Inc., based in Vancouver, is a beer and wine distributor in Canada. The company distributes its own brands and products such as Corona, which founder Anthony von Mandl calls “one of the greatest brands in the world,” in Western Canada.
“One of the things that has made us very
sensitive to distributors and their needs is that we also have a
distribution business,” von Mandl says. “That has been a great
source of learning and it’s also been a great opportunity to
experiment and see what might work and what doesn’t work.”
In addition, von Mandl also owns the Mission Hill
Family Estate Winery in British Columbia. “That’s sort of a
passion of mine,” he says. “Everything I do involves beverages,
alcohol beverages. I’m not involved in real estate or fashion or
stocks or bonds ... this is what I do and the work we do.
“One of the things you learn in wines is that,
in the end, it’s about what goes in the bottle,” he adds.
“It’s that philosophy and obsession with taste, quality and
consistency that is one of the reasons we have been successful with
Mike’s Hard Lemonade.”
